


MoonLight: Potions & Repairs

by Kyte_VaNa



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fantasy AU, Fantasy: Potions Shop, Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23667112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyte_VaNa/pseuds/Kyte_VaNa
Summary: Kageyama Tobio is a potions master and he strives to find out just what goes on into making the incomplete recipe written on the loose paper he got from his grandfather's book. Tsukishima Kei is a repairman for various items, and he's also Tobio's unfortunate lab rat for the unusual mixes he does, he and Tobio share a shop together that somehow work even through all their differences as people. Hinata Shouyo is a wandering merchant, selling questionably priced goods to both the potions master and the repairman when he comes for a visit.Once again, Tsukishima Kei is a repairman, and he needs a break.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou & Tsukishima Kei, Kageyama Tobio & Tsukishima Kei, Kageyama Tobio/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46





	MoonLight: Potions & Repairs

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!! I've had this idea for a while so I tried writing it hehe. This is purely self indulgent and even I don't know where I want to take this, if I want this to bloom into a proper multichaptered fic or to write episodic chapters or standalone works in the same universe to put into a collection. 
> 
> In the meantime! Please enjoy this nonsensical piece where nothing eventful really happens! Just a peek into a day of Moonlight Potions & Repairs and its owners!
> 
> also if you have a title suggestion it would be highly appreciated!

The room is warm with the hearth steadily blazing a gentle but prominent flame; candles abound the space, bathing the room in a warm orange glow, some are mounted on walls while others burn on tables, enchanted with magic so it doesn’t drip wax all over, or burn out much too quickly. Jars of various herbs, powders, and knickknacks fill the shelves of one side of the wall, while the other side holds books of different thickness, most of them gathering just a light layer of dust. Tobio stands at the center of the room, facing a table which contains a small stack of books, napkins with small measured mounds of varying ingredients, small pitchers of liquids of assorted colors and viscosity, a number of tools needed, and a simmering cauldron in the middle of it all.

Tobio frowns at the spread in front of him, sharp calculating blue eyes flitting from the liquids to the powders to the books that he has opened countless of times but proved to be of no help at all. He hastily grabs the small piece of paper from his pocket to look at it again. He smooths out the creases of the crumpled paper as his eyes carefully scan its contents once more. It’s a ripped piece from his grandfather’s recipe book that he has recently gotten when his sister came for a visit a few nights ago. The paper was slipped in between the pages of the book, along with postcards, train tickets, and a few silver pieces.

The top half is missing and Tobio is trying to make sense of the listed ingredients he can read on the paper that he’s holding. He grabs uselessly at the roots of his short dark hair to pull in frustration.

_Why would you even mix Quicksilver with Dragon’s Root!?_

On top of that there’s nothing written on how he’s supposed to mix everything together. In his cauldron is the base of every potion: three liters of water just at the edge of boiling; he never got past this stage for this tricky experiment. He really doesn’t want to blow up his mixing room, and not to mention, it’s also connected to the shop out front, and he’s not having Tsukishima kick him out of being a business partner just because he got curious and decided to throw all his existing knowledge and caution about potions out of the window and explode the space he made for himself.

Tobio huffs from his nose as he pockets the paper again, he turns off the burner that’s keeping his cauldron at just the right temperature and then dumps the water back into the large pail he has under the table, he thanks the cauldron maker at the back of his mind for making it cool down quickly upon being removed from heat. As he’s cleaning and putting the ingredients back into their respective jars, the wooden door that leads to the shop rattles open.

“Oi you’ve been in here longer than your break allotment, get back out here and manage your side of the shop,” Tobio squints as he tries to get used to the glare of the sun backing Tsukishima like a spotlight and when he does, Tobio sees the ever present scowl of the blond, mouth turned downward and eyebrows pinched together, the disdain behind Tsukishima’s glasses is present too. At this point Tobio has learned to ignore it.

“You don’t have to get me every time, you know. I’m just about finishing up anyways,” he replies as he picks up the jars to fit snuggly in his arms to put back into the shelves. He hears Tsukishima click his tongue.

“Just get back out will you? That annoying orange shrimp is here again and he’s making a ruckus,” is what Tsukishima says before slamming the rickety wooden door closed.

When Tobio finally makes it out of the potions room he sees Hinata chatting up Tsukishima who seems to be even more irritated from when he barged in Tobio’s room. Tobio notes that Tsukishima is fixing the spyglass that was brought in from a few days ago.

“Oh! Yamayama!” Hinata greets, waving his arms with his entire torso. He nods his head in acknowledgment before going behind his counter.

The shop he and Tsukishima co-own is nestled inside the busy streets of the shopping district, the space inside is a little too cramped, with just enough walking space for two people in between Tobio’s potions shop side and Tsukishima’s item repair shop side. The two of them also live on the second floor of the building as it is more convenient for them and also because the deal was either: buy the whole building or rent the space for the shop and when they (Tsukishima) intensively calculated the costs, they (Tsukishima) found out that it is more practical to just buy the whole building. After a lot of money and loans later, Tobio can’t say he regrets the decision by much if not at all; between him and Tsukishima and their position in the shopping district, getting customers and money (to pay back loans) to live is easily a piece of cake. Plus they don’t have to worry about transportation costs.

“Guess what I got in Date the other day? And for a really good price too!” Hinata exclaims proudly as he bounces on the balls of his feet. Without waiting for an answer, he hauls a small but full looking bag. It clutters on the surface of the counter and Tobio would have told Hinata off because the glass casing _could_ actually break even if enchanted but Tobio is left speechless as Hinata reaches into the bag to take out small polished cuts of lapis lazuli and crystal quartz, perfect for pulverizing to mix into concoctions.

“Grade A quality crystals, naturally harvested and fresh from the mine!” Hinata grins as he carefully places pieces of the minerals on the glass counter. Tobio stares at it for a bit before turning his attention to the blond on the other side of the shop.

“Oi Tsukishima have you appraised this?” He asks as he got one pebble sized quartz on the table and then rolls it around on his palm. Tsukishima swivels his chair to face him, frown already set in place.

“Why would I appraise it? I don’t even need it,”

“You don’t?”

“No. And before you ask, no, I’m not going to appraise it for you,”

Tobio squawks as Tsukishima goes back to tinkering on the spyglass. “I wasn’t going to ask you, dumbass!” he grouses.

“Oi oi I told you I got this fresh from the mines! You don’t have to appraise these out anymore!” Hinata bristles, swinging his arms around to prove a point.

“You can never be too sure these days. Are you even sure you got this from the _actual_ mines? You can’t just go to a mine in Date and have these be sold right off the bat. You sure you weren’t duped?” Tobio smirks as he taunts the small merchant. Hinata grinds his teeth and flips the bird at Tobio.

“Just appraise it yourself, Your Highness, it’s not that hard,” Tsukishima inserts and Tobio can’t help the click of his tongue as he glares at the back of Tsukishima’s head.

“If I find out these are the real deal, I’ll buy them all and you won’t get any,” He threatens to which Tsukishima huffs out a snort.

“Don’t need any, King. I have plenty of stocks of minerals in my arsenal,” Tsukishima says dismissively and Tobio can’t help but frown. He knows that Tsukishima mostly only need such decorative gems for beautifying the final product of his repairs, not so much for improving functionality.

“So are you buying it or not?” Hinata asks impatiently.

“I’m gonna have to check it first, dumbass,”

Tobio grabs the magnifying glass on one of the shelves displaying all kinds of potions, testing it for a bit and switching the lens. He also gets the bottle of solution and some swabs which are under the glass counter before facing the ginger merchant again. Placing the things on the counter he goes straight to testing the quartz he held earlier. He lifts it to examine with his naked eye first, rolling the stone in his palm to feel the surface and to make sure that nothing is coming off just from rubbing the surface. He then grabs the magnifying glass with his other hand to bring it to his eye in order to get an even clearer view of the surface of the mineral.

Tobio hums as he’s pleased with what he’s seen so far. Hinata is basically vibrating in excitement on the other side of the counter, but he stays quiet as he fights off a wobbly grin from showing on his face in anticipation, Tobio can hear the ‘I told you so!’ from the ginger in a smug tone loud and clear even if he’s keeping his mouth shut. Tobio spreads a napkin to place the quartz on; he opens the tiny bottle of solution and dips the swab in it, letting the cotton soak for a bit before lifting it and shaking off the excess at the rim of the bottle.

He can feel Hinata’s intense eyes as he places the swab on the crystal quartz swirling it around in gentle motions at first before progressively getting a bit rougher. He does it for quite a bit until he’s satisfied enough. Tobio still hasn’t said a word to the merchant.

“So? I told you it’s the real deal didn’t I?”

“Shut up,” Tobio snaps before getting a sizeable lapis lazuli next and doing the same treatment. The appraisal took a bit more time as Tobio tested multiple gems of each kind and Hinata is definitely getting at the end of his patience.

“Are you gonna buy it or not?” the merchant asks for the umpteenth time after Tobio has tested three gems each. The potions master just glances at Hinata dismissively before directing his eyes back to the pile of rocks before him.

“They’re authentic,”

“I told you so!” comes the immediate jab and Tobio can’t help but grab at Hinata’s head in irritation.

“I had to make sure dumbass! Impure crystals can cause nasty side effects and I’m gonna sue you if what you sell me is a dupe!” He grouses as he ruffles Hinata’s hair roughly. The shorter merchant lunges at him then from across the counter, and Tobio, not one to be outplayed, increases the pressure he has on the ginger’s head.

“Can’t the two of you shut up and get it over with!?” Tsukishima yells from his work station, turning around to find the two idiots practically at each other’s necks.

“I can’t concentrate on fixing this damn spyglass and my client will check up on it later in the day so if the two of you would be so _kind_ to just get your business done and fuck off?” Tsukishima huffs a heavy breath at the end of his tirade. Tobio can see the frown lines go even deeper this time on his partner’s forehead.

“I can’t ‘fuck off’ I work here,” Tobio replies helpfully to which Tsukishima groans at as he swivels back to his work station, effectively back on ignoring the other two people in the shop.

“I’ll take it,” Tobio says, already grabbing his cash box from a locked compartment under the counter. Hinata cheers before dumping out the rest of the stones on the counter which clatters loudly. Both Tobio and Hinata pretend that they did not hear the irritated huff from the repairman across the room.

“I’ll charge you five hundred gold pieces for the bunch of them,” the merchant smirks as he holds his hand out for the payment.

“Just five hundred?” Tobio asks incredulously. A palm sized gem, especially those as sought after as lapis lazuli can cost upward up to a thousand gold pieces each and this munchkin is selling him at least five decently sized lapis and ten clear crystal quartz for just half of the market price of one precious stone.

“Yup!” Hinata exclaims with a thumbs up. Tobio squints his eyes in disbelief; he gets his stack of clean receipts and a pen, writing down on a page the transaction that’s about to happen. He slides the paper facing Hinata.

“Sign it so I have proof that you’re going to be the one to blame,” Tobio orders forcing the pen into the merchant’s hand. Hinata is about to protest again but a stern glare later, he scrambles to sign the piece of paper, grumbling all the while.

“There. Now give me my money,” Hinata shoves the paper and pen to Tobio’s chest before extending his arm again, palm facing upward. The potions master drops a small bag of gold pieces on the merchant’s waiting hand.

“Hehe, nice doing business with you,” Hinata snickers, putting the bag of gold into his pocket.

“Alright now shoo,” Tsukishima snaps, standing up from his chair to walk to the shop’s entrance, opening the door and gesturing outside.

“You don’t have to be so mean Stingyshima!” Hinata squawks as he stomps towards the tall blonde glaring at him for a bit before stopping, seemingly having remembered something.

“Oh right, I’m going to Shiratorizawa tomorrow and I’m taking special orders! Anything you guys want from there?” He asks, looking back and forth from the potions master to the repairman. Tobio nods.

“Yeah if you could get me at least five silver swan feathers, I’d pay you three hundred. But make sure those feathers are the primaries from the left wing.”

“Very specific as always, huh?” Hinata teases before facing the other man in front of him. “And you?”

“Nothing I can’t get here myself,” Tsukishima states bluntly. Hinata scrunches his face up at that.

“You sure? They make specially crafted nuts and bolts there, totally unique,”

“I can just go to the wholesale goods shop a few blocks away. Now off you go,” Tsukishima grabs Hinata by the back collar of his shirt before unceremoniously shoving him out of the door.

“I’ll find something so cool that you’ll just want to buy it off of me someday, Tsukishima!” Hinata yells before running off. The blond repairman scoffs as he closes the door again and walks over to Tobio’s counter glancing at the spread of crystals on the surface.

“They look fine enough,” he says getting a quartz gem from the counter to see it closer.

“I told you I’m not giving you any,” Tobio frowns, reaching over to pluck the gem from Tsukishima’s fingers.

“And I told you I don’t need them,” Tsukishima scoffs before returning back to his side of the shop. Tobio busies himself by fixing the pile of gems, putting them in separate jars to be grinded and pulverized for later.

“How’s figuring out that recipe going?” Tsukishima asks conversationally. Tobio looks up from wiping the glass counter to look over at the blond. Tsukishima is testing out the spyglass, it looks cleaner and definitely functional compared to when it first came in.

“No luck. Everyone knows better than to make potions without an accurate mixing guide,” He grumbles to which Tsukishima snorts.

“And yet you still want to make whatever the hell it is,”

“Kazuyo-san has done a lot of crazy mixes that aren’t supposed to work but somehow he makes them work,” Tobio shrugs.

“Maybe the recipe is one of those things so of course I’d want to create it,”

Tsukishima doesn’t say anything and instead goes on ahead to strategically stick a piece of enchanted paper onto the spyglass’ surface, brandishing the shop’s name _MoonLight: Potions & Repairs. _The paper acts as the final layer of repair, a reassurance and warranty of sorts; if the client breaks the item again the paper will activate its magic to bring the item back into its repaired state. Tobio argued once that it’s bad business but the blond just says he doesn’t want to repair the same thing twice; that doesn’t stop really clumsy clients from seeking his help again though, to which Tsukishima begrudgingly accepts every time because well, it makes bank.

It’s a weekday today so asides from the person who had the spyglass repaired and a few people who bought common potions, business is slow. The influx of people coming to them usually comes during the weekends and special events, in Tobio’s case.

They close up at their usual time, as soon as the sun sets. Tsukishima immediately climbs up the stairs to their living space.

“We’re having beef stew tonight, no complaints,” he states not even sparing a glance at Tobio’s annoyed face.

Tobio takes his time to inventory his stocks of potions, going carefully through each shelf. Upon reaching the final shelf, his Experimental Potions shelf, he gets the one at the very end. It’s an unassuming bottle, standard cloudy glass casing with a cork cap. He shakes it carefully, watching the vibrant blue liquid turn magenta.

It’s the latest mix that he made from his grandfather’s recipe book. He doesn’t know yet if he’s successful.

_It’s supposed to improve the taste of food... at least according to the book._

He pockets the potion before getting his cash box from the counter and then finally turning the lights off and climbing up the stairs.

Their living space is larger than the shop; it has two bedrooms a living room that also counts as a dining room, a small kitchen, and a bathroom to the side. It’s decent and Tobio’s learned to like the space enough. He notes Tsukishima chopping up some potatoes in the kitchen as he walks towards his room.

His room is nothing special. It’s lived in but there are sparse decorations. There’s a bed tucked on one side beside the window, a small cabinet on his bedside which holds a standard lamp, there’s a table on the opposite side which contains thin books, his own potions journals, and his grandfather’s recipe book.

He sits down on the chair facing the table, flipping open his recent journal and sets about to writing the day’s events, what he tried doing in the mixing room, and his newly acquired gems. Tobio belatedly remembers that he has to grind them up.

It only takes a few minutes of writing before he’s done. He hasn’t made any new discoveries while doing his usual mixes as of late and he has yet to know the actual effects of some his grandfather’s special mixes. He pats his pocket for the taste improvement potion. He sighs a long drawn out breath, Tobio needs to have this tested as soon as possible and he grimaces at the idea that immediately came to mind at the thought.

* * *

Tsukishima scoops a generous amount of stew in two bowls, he hands one to Tobio who’s already sitting down. Tsukishima takes his place on the table as well, whispering his prayers for the food before digging in.

“Tsukishima,” Tobio interrupts even before the blond could put the spoonful of beef stew in his mouth.

“Whatever you’re gonna say, can’t it wait until after we’re done eating?” He scolds, putting his spoon down to stir the contents of his bowl. Tobio scowls.

“No, it has something to do with food,” He says before pulling the vial of potion from his pockets to place on the table, he gently slides it in Tsukishima’s direction. The blond stares at the offending object face unreadable for a minute.

“Tsukishi—“

“No,” the repairman cuts off sternly, giving Tobio a menacing glare. If the potions master isn’t already used to it he might have backed down, but as it is, Tsukishima’s glare has as much effect on Tobio as being bitten by an ant.

“Just—“

“I only allow you to use me as your test subject twice a week, that’s me being generous enough. You already used your chances all up this week so, no.” The blond says, his tone leaving no room for argument. Tobio frowns as he insistently shoves the vial towards his housemate.

“It’s not as bad as the last one I promise. It’s just supposed to enhance the taste of food,” Tobio says nonchalantly, he still hasn’t withdrawn his arm from the vial lest Tsukishima shove it back at him.

“The last one you said was supposed to make me jump higher,” Tsukishima starts accusingly “but in actuality the potion mimics frog antics and it differs from every person and I ended up talking like a goddamn bullfrog, croaking and shit, for half a day,” He hisses.

“Yeah well, I took that potion too and it was really hard to not have my tongue loll out every few minutes because of how long it got!” Tobio retaliates to which Tsukishima grimaces.

“Disgusting, don’t talk about that ever again,”

“Come on Tsukishima, just one drop,” Tobio insists face set in a hard frown.

“No,” Tsukishima says, enunciating the syllable carefully and with as much disdain as he can put into his tone of voice as he stares down at the other man.

Thick tension settles into the air as the two men stare at each other, no one backing down; Tobio still has his hand on the vial his torso half propped up on the table itself as he reaches the blond. Tsukishima’s grip on his spoon is tight and Tobio feels like he’s going to fling it at his forehead any second now.

But then everything moves too fast too quickly; as Tsukishima is about to reason to Tobio and reject his demand again Tobio grabs the vial himself, uncorking it and then unceremoniously dumping almost half its contents into Tsukishima’s bowl, all in the span of seconds. Too stunned and too appalled to speak, the blond repairman just gawks at his stew as it takes on a slightly brighter hue, almost like it’s glowing.

The raven haired potions master too is frozen in place, he doesn’t really know what possessed him to do what he did, but the damage can’t be undone now; and Tsukishima hates wasting food if he can help it, even though he’s a small eater, so Tobio _knows_ that he would eat it. Not without a fuss, but, he would eat it.

“What the fuck,” Tsukishima’s voice cuts through the tension with venom as he finally gathers himself from his stupor. Tobio resists the urge to flinch. The blond slams his palms on the table, enough to rattle the bowls but not spill its contents and glares down at the offender. Tobio has never seen Tsukishima’s frown lines so deep before.

“What the fuck?” he repeats intelligently, louder this time and with more disbelief than anything.

“You’ll eat it won’t you,” Tobio says as a statement and not a question. He sees his housemate’s brow twitch as a wobbly grimace settles on his face.

“Why would you even _do_ that!? Do you really think my consent holds little value to you? I may be a commoner, King, but I’m not your slave,” Tsukishima spats, eyes blazing in anger with fists curled onto the table. Tobio shrinks at the accusation but irritation also bubbles in him at the words.

“I wasn’t thinking, okay?” he grumbles.

“You weren’t thinking,” Tsukishima repeats, deadpan and Tobio has to wince.

“I told you to not call me ‘king’ anymore and you’re not a ‘slave’,” Tobio mumbles as he slides down his seat, he’s looking at the chip on the corner of the table and trying hard to avoid Tsukishima’s gaze.

The blond clicks his tongue loudly as he plops himself back onto his seat. Tobio is still not looking at him, guilt written on his face.

“I revoke your ‘use Tsukishima as a lab rat’ card for the remainder of the month,” He says and finally Tobio snaps his head up, his eyes wide and lips set in a wobbly line as if pleading, Tsukishima narrows his eyes and crosses his arms in front of his chest.

“I won’t negotiate nor will I entertain bargain. If you bargain the timeframe will only increase,” he threatens and Tobio bristles at that if only for a bit.

The potions master sighs dejectedly, shoulders slumping as he pouts. “Fine,” he acquiesces, the fight leaving him completely as he let relief wash over him when he realize belatedly that Tsukishima isn’t going to kick him out. 

“I’m sorry,” he tacks on genuinely and the repairman scoffs.

“Don’t do that, it’s creepy when you do,” Tsukishima huffs as he uncrosses his arms and grabs his spoon again. He stares at the contents for a while as he stirs the stew, not noticing any suspicious things going on in the bowl. He hears Tobio say a quick and mumbled ‘thanks for the food’ before grabbing his own spoon.

Tsukishima sighs as he finally finds the courage to scoop a spoonful of the soup to eat. Tobio still hasn’t eaten anything as he watches with rapt attention the man before him, his eyes calculating as he tries to find any miniscule change from Tsukishima’s appearance. He finds none even after a while.

Tsukishima swallows and eats another spoonful, not sparing a glance at the surprised gleeful face Tobio makes.

“Did it work? Properly?” Tobio breathes, a little disbelievingly and Tsukishima is already putting the third spoonful of stew in his mouth.

The blond lets the question hang in the air for a bit, taking his time chewing his food, if only to taunt the potions master a little bit by having him wait. He lets his spoon rest at the edge of the bowl as he swallows, he doesn’t spare a glance at Tobio’s direction.

“It worked,” he states simply before going back to eating his food. Tobio can’t help the wobbly grin that erupts in his face. He grabs his spoon and digs into his own meal and later pouring the rest of the vial’s contents into his own bowl to try for himself.

The first spoonful of spiked stew erupts into a myriad of flavors in his mouth, it tastes impossibly beefier and it really packs a punch on the taste buds.

Tsukishima made Tobio clean the dishes (and the whole kitchen) afterwards and he couldn’t even bring himself to complain.

* * *

Tobio is once again at his desk, writing on his journal, copying the entire recipe from his grandfather’s book to his own to make notes (he doesn’t dare write over his grandfather’s writing) and to record the effects of the taste enhancing potion. He’s inexplicably happy that it turned out well; Tsukishima finished his whole bowl of spiked stew after all.

He wonders if the effects of the potion would stay in his tongue for long. If anything, he’ll find out tomorrow at breakfast. Tobio smiles; he looks forward to another day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for coming this far! if you enjoyed it I please don't hesitate to send some kudos and comments! consructive criticism and questions are welcome too (even if the truth hurts sometimes;;;)! if you want to read me yell about TsukiKage and Haikyuu!! (and a lot of other stuff lmao) in general you can follow me @KyteVana on twt


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